Tuesdays with Muerte

Stacia and I wrote a lullaby for our 5-month-old baby, Kai. Here's how it happened: Before Kai's birth, we intended to create a personalized lullaby like my sisters’ kids had. However, busy schedules made it challenging. During our Christmas vacation at Heather's house in Spokane, WA, we aimed to fulfill that goal and compose a special lullaby for Kai. However, with the house packed with family to interact with, we never made the time. Fortunately for us, my sister invited us to extend our stay by a week. Once the house was quiet, we immediately got to work on Kai's goodnight song. After months and months of anticipation, it all came together— in a single afternoon !  First, I threw a favorite chord progression together on the guitar. Then Stacia and I figured out the vocal melody, lyrics, and form and wrote it all down on sheet music.  The following day, we were still in the flow, so we added descants and harmonies. My 12-year-old niece Annika and my sister Heather pit...

Good Boy  was a senior dance project, choreographed by Jack Chan. All the dancers are from the Utah's Timpview High School Dance Company. Ms. Challis, their coach, was the lead cinematographer and editor. I played the role of the helpful assistant.

Summary This is a recording of an hour-long fireside. It features two married couples, both whom have recently "graduated" from the Slate Canyon YSA ward (with honors). In panel discussion style, they respond to dating- and marriage-related questions posed to them by their former peers. Questions were asked and answered in 4 sets of 3-4 questions over the course of the hour. Panelists Maizy and Tyler Cloutier Shelly and Marty Cluff Moderator Bishop Van Orman Participants Slate Canyon YSA Ward, Provo YSA Stake ≈100 ward members in attendance Recording Information Recorded on Sunday, 2014-01-19 at the "Blue Roof Chapel"  by Bryan Tanner using the VoiceRecorderHD app on an iPhone5. Additional Information While the audio recording of the dating panel is good, the real value of this post is the additional 5-page document , compiled by Bishop Van Orman, summarizing responses from a FAQ dating questionnaire he sent out to 20, former ward...

Click to All photos to embiggen How will we fit 4 more people? Don't jump! Yvette VanDyke

Do you think I should have auditioned? Andrew Garfield - Actor to play Parker in Spiderman 4 Donald Glover - There was a campaign on Twitter , "#donald4spiderman", for Glover to be allowed to audition for the role of Peter Parker in the upcoming Spider-Man film. Oh, Danny.  You so crazy.

I made the picture black and white because I'm wearing a pink shirt. And we all know pink clashes with red. (And I'm in San Fransisco.)

These are lyrics to a song I wrote one week at EFY in 2006. I was inspired to put my thoughts down on paper after seeing SOOO many teenage girls struggling with self-image issues. After three years, I just found the paper tucked away in my seminary scriptures that were recently returned to me. I had thought that they had been stolen by some needy EFY participant back in the day, but it turns out they've been sitting in some person's apartment at the Raintree Apartments for the last three years; I guess I left them at a home teaching appointment and forgot about them. Anyway, this song is far from being completed; it's only a first draft. In fact, I probably will never do anything with it. But I hope you enjoy the gist of what is there: See Me Beautiful Girl's Part: Daughter of heaven Here for a moment in time Away from the Father Becoming a woman sublime Some days it's so easy To forget who I really am The robes of the world look so appealing a...

Before I leave Provo, I want to throw a ninja party. The will be a dress code; appropriate ninja headgear will be required. Prepare yourselves now. Please let me know in the comments box below if you are interested in a invitation, otherwise, don't be offended if you don't get one. Examples :

Mr. T pities the Sith . . .

Darin, my old Hip-Hop instructor at 24 Hour Fitness, would be ticked if he saw these dance steps. I know they are all pretty generic, I swear that Darin came up with those moves--even their names! He was cheesy like that. If he weren't touring the Middle East serving as a Medic, he would probably go into the internet and kick that dance instructor's virtual butt. (It's actually very likely that those two are friends and danced together in the same clubs and studios.) Here is the original download I pulled the video from: Disney.com Or download the Quicktime version HERE . I tried using iMovie to mix some real hip-hop music to this dance instead of that lame country mix, but that program is really rigid; it will only let me attach a second audio track to the original video track--no time adjustments or fading or anything. If you know of a free video dubbing software for Mac that works well, please let me know in the comments section. Below is a crummy previe...

Sometimes artistic creativity strikes at weird times. I wrote this love song in the middle of Sacrament Meeting last week. As far as I remember, it had nothing to do with what was going on at church. I don't remember exactly who was speaking; it was either my friend, Kristen, who spoke on how gospel-living yields happiness or it was something that my former home teacher, Brian Zundel, said regarding charity. I know these lyrics are pretty cliché and mushy, but I had to get it out. If you would just say, "yes" I would fall in love today Unearth my roots and plant them close to yours If you would say "yes" to me I'd leave my doubts behind I would give my life to fill your heart with joy But time drags us apart on relentless waves bound for different seas Only now, now that we're apart,  I understand why Friendship plagued our seeds of love You could not let your heart be free As long as your sister still loved me… So do we wait this out, or should ...

I thought this photo session was too precious to not appreciate through a couple minutes of Ps. My next task will be to cut and paste the faces of my true friends over these animals' faces...

This is a richly symbolic photo. You decide what it is symbolic of exactly: a. The supernatural-like abilities that both possess. One for inciting revolutions, and the other for squelching them. b. My need to control my own most valuable resource: ________ . c. They both have [natural] beautiful, blue eyes. The spice , in this case, refers to the genes that run in the family. d. All of the above. *If you haven't seen the movie Dune , or its sequel, Children of Dune , I recommend watching them when you are sick at home.

I was checking out, my friend, Eve Eddington's blog the other day and eventually came across this delightsome, time-wasting website: www.befunky.com . It allows visitors to upload pictures and mess with them; just like www.yearbookyourself.com . Befunky.com will soon have a feature that will allow users to cartoonize videos! I made these after only 15 minutes of playing around with the website! You all should check it out!

What do you do when you are in need of a gift box? Do you go to the store? Do you call a neighbor? Do you convert a box in your food pantry into a gift box? Nay. Make your own box out of dollar bills! The author did a terrible job explaining where to fold. In fact, it was pure luck that I complete the boxes at all. But now I have one gift box and one box to put my vitamin E pill into instead of leaving it out on my bathroom counter. I like the lid-on-top box best. The sliding box catches a little bit when I put them together. That is my art project for the day. (I hope I don't forget how to do make them; that could come in useful someday.) ---------------- Listening to: Snow Patrol - The Lightning Strike

1950 1952 1954 1956 1960 1964 1968 1970 1970 1978 1978 1982 1988 1988 1988 *WINNER* 1994 1994 1998 Stock Photo Stock Photo Here the a link if you want to try it yourself.

I guess meeting Kenny G is my third celebrity encounter. Interestingly, I've met him three times! Many of you were disappointed that I didn't get a photo with Kenny G last Christmas when Stef and I saw him in passing at the Sheridan Inn in Cincinnati. Well, one of the reasons why I didn't ask to have my picture taken with him is because I've already got one . (Obscure reference to a Monty Python and the Holy Grail, featuring John Cleese.) Anyway, I had the good fortune to hear Kenny play a charity concert at the Provo Tabernacle back in 2006. It just so happens that KG's niece, Camilyn Bacon, was in my ward at the Raintree Apts. So after his performance he drove over to meet her new fiancé, Jared, in his rented Lincoln Town Car. (He was only over for 20 minutes before he returned to his car to find a boot on it! Cami had to help him call up "The Towing Jerks Inc." to get it removed.) My impression of Kenny is that he is a genuinely outgoing...

I remembered, after posting the story about meeting Keira Knightley at the MTC, that I had unwittingly met another very poopular celebrity but had realized it! This encounter took place in the Moab, UT when I ran the 1/2 Marathon with the Raintree roommates in the Summer of 2006. It was a blast! I can't believe I did it with ZERO training, whatsoever. (Aside: Another boy in my ward was scheduled to run in the group and had to drop out the day before. Since I was going to go spectate anyway I thought to myself, "why watch when I could participate?" So I took the boy's ID and pretended that I was him.) (Still Aside: The emotions of running a 1/2 marathon were priceless. I still recall the lingering memories of stretching out just before the race, drinking and peeing along the way and nearly collapsing at the end. There is nothing quite like the sensation of swarm of 5000, dedicated runners pushing ourselves as hard as we could towards a common goal. It wa...

Blast from the past: I totally forgot about this story until just recently when a missionary sent me a picture. Remember when I used to work at the MTC. Well, one of my favorite perks was the all-you-can-eat lunch buffets for only $3.75. WHAT A DEAL! Anyway, one of the craziest things happened at lunch one Wednesday while I was eating with my friend Kevin. Keira Knightly was visiting the MTC! She was dropping off a friend at one of the orientation sessions when I recognized her in the hallway. I probably would not have recognized her had I not just seen her in Pirates earlier that week. Impetuous, as I am, I invited her to sit with us in the cafeteria, boasting that the MTC stocks the best ice cream sandwiches in all of the Western United States. (I always seem to be most outgoing when I am around friends.) Keira agreed to my invitation as she was waiting for a friend to text her and had some time to kill. Lucky us. We didn't have long. We had barely sat down and sh...

Capo II, 4/4 1d – 1d, 2u, 3d, 4u, 2 – 1,2,3,4 Verse 1 – G, Em, C, D (2x) C, D, G, Em – C,D Verse 2 Chorus – G, Am, C, Am to C (3x) G, Em, C [Interlude] Verse 3 Chorus Verse 4 Chorus (Special) Verse 1 ‘You are so beautiful’, that’s what I meant to say Before you left me on that January day Yeah, we silently move on, while crusted anchors drag the dawn, Yeah, in silence we moved on. Verse 2 Trading life for every moment you’re away Thinking your name as our collars start to fray Yeah, they gave us tea leaves, but I'm still faking a sneeze, Yeah, it’s been a long ride. Chorus Say your heart beats for me in that way Say you‘ve wandered, hoping every day Say you’ve wanted a love that is true Say you’ve waited--too. Verse 3 You are my Visine when I’m not seeing clear I’d do most anything once again to have you near. Yeah, our love is undefined, and I’m still living on dimes, But, everything will turn out fine. Chorus Say your heart beats for me i...